ALLUSIVE AFTERSHOCK

by Susan Griscom

  I wasn’t much of a church person. My dad never bothered to take me after my mom died. The old man blamed God for taking her away. I didn’t know if that was true or not but I knew she believed in God and if he took her, it must have been for a good reason, so I closed my eyes and prayed.

  My eyes popped open at the rumbling sound of thunder. I hadn’t realized I’d fallen asleep. The rain had stopped but now lightning lit the sky. Lightning and the forest were not a great combination. Adela slept next to me, her breaths rumbling with a wheeze and she was burning up. I had to get her somewhere dry. She wasn’t in any condition to walk and I didn’t think I could carry her very far.

  I looked up at the plywood above us. I wasn’t too arrogant to take a cue from good old Max.

  I pulled the board down from the trees and placed it on the ground, made two slits at the top with the knife Cooper had given me, then picked up Adela and lay her on the board. Taking some of the twine I’d saved, I wrapped it around her and the board several times, then through the two holes at the top of the board.

  I fastened the twine around my waist, double thick. I picked up both backpacks, and pulled. Man, did it hurt. The twine dug into my stomach too much and if I kept going, it was going to slice me in half. I shrugged out of my jacket, shoved it between the cord and my stomach to give it some cushion, then pulled Adela along behind me. I trudged on, being careful not to go over the many rocks in the path.

  The wind forced us off the trail and I tripped over a branch and fell on my knees. Luckily, I kept the board with Adela on it straight and she didn’t slide off. I got up and plodded on through mud and stacks of wet leaves.

  Something was wrong.

  My load kept getting heavier and heavier as I walked. Adela couldn’t be gaining weight. I looked around at the contraption I’d made and everything seemed to be okay, yet the weight still increased.

  I untied the twine around my stomach and lifted the board up to look under it. I wasn’t only dragging the board with Adela on it, but I was now dragging a pile of leaves and mud that had accumulated under the makeshift travois.

  I found a sturdy tree branch and scraped away the mud and leaves, retied the twine around my waist, and headed on down the path, keeping the thick branch with me. It was just the right size for hiking and helped me keep my balance. I heard Adela cough and stopped to check on her.

  I bent down beside her and she opened her eyes. “Hi, sleepyhead.”

  She started to sit, realized she was strapped to the board and her eyebrows furrowed as she struggled to move. “What’s going on?”

  “No, no, stay down. I’m pulling you on a board and you’re strapped on so you don’t fall off. You’re pretty sick, so it looks like it’s my turn to take care of you for a while. I’m trying to get us to some shelter.”

  “Oh … okay.” She closed her eyes and went back to sleep or maybe she passed out, I wasn’t too sure. Maybe that was a good thing, because lightning brightened the sky and not more than four seconds later, thunder boomed out.

  Less than a minute later, lightning cracked again as a bolt shot down from the black sky. A couple seconds later, thunder blasted out so loudly the ground rumbled under my feet. It was close. Too close. Another bolt of lightning struck so near to us and so brightly, I was sure Thor would be right behind it with his mighty hammer. The thunder roared so loudly I was surprised Adela was still out. She must have actually lost consciousness like I feared. “God, what now?” I no sooner said that when another bolt shot down, cracking a tree completely in half about twenty feet from us, igniting it and the ground around it. I would have thought the leaves were wet enough to keep the fire from spreading but rain didn’t get through the tops of the trees as well as it did in the clearing and fire sparks flew out as flames headed straight for us.

  I stepped out of the twine noose and my jacket fell to the ground. I quickly untied Adela but not fast enough as a sphere of flame the size of a baseball shot toward us, catching the fur on the hood of her jacket on fire. I tugged the parka off, tossing it away, as one of the backpacks slid down my arm to the blanket of pine needles covering the ground. It was the one Adela had been carrying, the one with the all the clothes, but not the one with the sleeping bag attached or the water. I left it there and without thinking, lifted Adela into my arms again. She groaned and put her now bare arms around my neck. “That’s it, baby, hold on. I need you to hold on tight.” I thought she heard me as her grip tightened and I ran, not caring that my ankle throbbed. The fire was on my heels and I wasn’t sure how far we’d have to go to be safe from it.

  I headed to my left. The unbelievable speed of the fire spreading caught me off guard as the wind changed, not in our favor. The fire skipped over brush and caught another tree right before we got to it. I stopped, not sure where to go; I turned to my right, but the fire had already begun to surround us. The air became nothing more than smoke, making visibility almost nonexistent and I was having trouble breathing. I worried about Adela, still unconscious in my arms, and I positioned her face so her nose and mouth lay close against my chest. I didn’t know how long we would last with the air so thick with soot and smoke. I held my breath for as long as I could. My eyes burned and teared, messing up my vision even more. There was only one small flame-free patch left, about four feet wide and sparks had already landed in the middle of it. We were doomed.

  Chapter 27

  ~~ Courtland ~~

  Fire was definitely not my favorite thing. I did not want to go through the hellacious agony of being burned again anytime soon. The pain in my ankle barely registered; whether it was just numb or almost healed, I couldn’t tell. I was only a dull ache now and the least of my worries, but enough of a reminder for me to avoid putting all our weight on it, a nearly impossible task.

  Adela squirmed in my arms and I almost dropped her. Shit. “Hold on tighter!” I yelled over the roar of the fire, praying she could hear me. “I don’t want to drop you.” God, please give me strength to get us out of here. My arms ached under her. Yeah, Adela didn’t weigh much, but try carrying a hundred pounds in your arms while escaping the wrath of a forest fire tight on your heels.

  “Ah, crap!” The wind picked up—a sometimes inevitable turn of events during a wildfire. The fire developed a wind pattern and fed the spread of the fire. I sank down on my knees for a moment, just a few seconds to catch my breath. Something flashed in my mind and a brief snippet of my limited knowledge of wildfires surfaced. Intense heat during a wildfire could generate winds called fire whirls. I remembered hearing about them as I watched one of those tornado-like vortices form before my eyes. I crouched in horror as the huge swirl hurled a flaming log and burning debris right toward us. I almost swallowed my tongue as it all soared over our heads, just missing us by a few inches. If we’d been standing, we’d surely have been toast. Fate had a funny way of working. Were we spared from dying in the cellar and from that flaming log just then only to incinerate in the fire spreading around us in a few minutes? I prayed not. I prayed to God, I prayed to my mom, my dad and I prayed to the Great White Spirit of my ancestors. I didn’t want to leave any of them out just in case.

  It took every ounce of strength I had in my legs to muster up enough energy to stand with Adela in my arms but I did it. I headed toward the last bit of unburned area around us and ran as if the devil was chasing me. Maybe he was. I probably wasn’t moving all that fast, but it was the best I could do and I kept running for what seemed like a mile or more. I glanced behind us and only saw smoke in the air. The fire was behind us but I didn’t want to stop just yet, not knowing how quickly it might be spreading.

  I slowed a little, probably to the speed of mere crawling, but I still forged ahead. I’d thought my arms ached before, but they were about to fall off now. I sank down on my knees and placed Adela on the ground. The backpack I had slung over my shoulder hit the ground with a thump and I gasped for breath. Unfortunately, the air wasn’t much better here than it had been at the heart of t
he fire. I coughed and puked up what was left of the rabbit in my stomach, wiped my mouth and glanced back at Adela, glad she hadn’t witnessed that little moment of humiliation. I sank back on my butt, every muscle, every bone, every cell in my body hurting like a son of a bitch. I shook my arms out, willing the circulation back into them. How far from the fire were we? I had no idea, and not wanting to be anywhere close to it, I got back up, slung the backpack over my shoulder again and scooped Adela up in my arms. She grunted as I juggled her positioning. The fact that she made a sound was reassuring to me. I kissed her forehead, her skin alarmingly warm under my lips. “Hold on Adela, please hold on.”

  Then, as though we needed even more obstacles, I heard thunder again, coming from ahead of us. We had fire behind us, thunder and most likely more rain before us. Adela was sure to catch pneumonia but there was no way in hell I’d go back toward the fire. The further away from the fire we went the rain got heavier. To make matters worse, since I couldn’t see the sun, I had no idea if we were heading north, south, east or west. I hoped we were heading north because east would put us up in the sierras. But even if we were headed east, it was better than south or west, the location of the earthquake’s epicenter.

  My concept of time became more obscured with each step. Water dripped off my nose and wet hair hung in my eyes. I looked down at Adela; she was soaked to the bone and wheezing with each breath. My legs started to rubber out again but I couldn’t stop. Being careful where I stepped, my focus had been down at the ground. I looked up as a sudden gush of cold air mixed with rain pelted my face and I collapsed onto my knees.

  Chapter 28

  ~~ Courtland ~~

  I held Adela against me as tightly as I could so I wouldn’t drop her. We had no jackets anymore to shield ourselves from the wind and the rain. I pulled her hair over her face, thinking that would help. I wanted to stay there and rest for a while, but I knew if we didn’t get shelter soon, I might lose Adela. I stood up at almost the same time the rain let up. Not sure if the break would last, I walked. I walked, limped, hobbled. I hoped we were heading out of the forest—we had to be. I followed my instincts and the air became clearer and easier to breathe. I walked on for what felt like another hour and the smell of fire and rain became a faint memory. We finally came to a narrow six-inch path, most likely a deer trail. As we rounded a corner, I spotted a small building just beyond some tall redwoods.

  Please let it be a whole house with a roof. Or anything with a roof.

  My prayers were answered as we came within a few yards of the structure and I saw it was fully intact. Earthquakes were strange the way they could completely destroy one home and leave another standing. My own home had still been standing when the fire started. I supposed my dad figured it was safe once the shaking stopped. He’d been asleep when I left that morning, so it was quite possible that he awoke with a hangover or still drunk and didn’t comprehend the danger.

  I carried Adela to the front of the house and trudged up the three wooden steps to the porch. I gently placed her on the wood deck and knocked on the door. I glanced at Adela, noticing each short breath she took ended with a heavy wheeze. No one answered and I knocked again and waited a few moments. Still no answer. I tried the doorknob but found it locked. I went to the window, peered in and didn’t see anything, not even any furniture.

  I tried several windows, all of which were locked. I walked to the back, tried the windows there, but no luck. I hunted around on the little back cement patio for some sign of a hidden key, checking under a ceramic planter that no longer housed anything living, but no key. I walked around toward the front again and stumbled over a small rock. It seemed to jiggle when I kicked it so I picked it up and discovered it was a clever fake that actually contained a key. Thank you, God. Of all the rocks that could have been in my path to kick, my toe caught the lucky one. I went to the back door and held the key up to the lock ready to stick it in, but it wasn’t even the right size for the slot. I prayed that my premature exclamation of thanks hadn’t been in vain. I walked around to the front and stuck it in the lock and it turned. I let out a breath of relief and peeked in to check around. It was vacant without a stick of furniture.

  I picked up Adela, carried her across the threshold and placed her down next to the fireplace. She was drenched and covered with wet soot. I needed to get the fire going but I didn’t see any wood.

  Leaving Adela on the floor, I went back outside as I remembered seeing a small shed attached to the side of the house. My ankle throbbed a little just to remind me that it needed to rest, but I limped to the small building only to find it had a rusty padlock on it. Jeez, these people didn’t trust anybody. Who did they expect to rob them up here? No neighbors to speak of, and besides, the house was vacant. Nothing to steal.

  I picked up a rather large rock and slammed it against the padlock; it fell to the ground with a clunk. I yanked the door open and stepped inside to find it mostly empty save for a small stack of wood in the corner, enough for a couple of days anyway.

  I gathered up as much wood as my arms could hold and took it inside. Once I got the fire started, I went to Adela and placed my hand on her forehead. She was still burning up and her entire body shivered. I frowned at her wet clothes; they had to come off. I was worried she might wake up and be embarrassed or think the wrong thing; not that I didn’t want to take her clothes off and explore that body of hers. I did, under vastly difference circumstances. I debated this for quite some time pacing around the room like an idiot. I rubbed my hand through my hair over and over again, thinking I might come out of this bald if I kept it up. I stood over her, staring, until she stirred and opened her eyes.

  “Where are we?”

  “In a house. Nobody lives here. We’re safe.”

  “Good,” she said and closed her eyes again.

  I crouched down beside her and whispered, “Adela …” I paused not wanting to sound eager about wanting to remove her clothes. “Adela, your clothes are wet and full of soot. I need to get them off.” Jeez, could I sound any more enthusiastic? “Um … they’ll dry better if they’re off and you need to get dry too. You have a fever and you’re having chills.”

  “’Kay.” She kept her eyes closed and groped for the zipper on her jacket that was no longer there.

  “Here, let me.” I laid her back on the carpet. She was soaked through to her bones and barely conscious. First, I removed her boots and wet socks. I unbuckled her drenched pants and found her underpants to be just as wet. I took the sleeping bag and placed it over her before tugging off her jeans and her panties. I was being a saint, but then only a real low life scum would take advantage of a situation like this.

  Her shirt came next. That was a bit tricky since I had to lift her up to get the flimsy black tank top over her head. The bra with the hook on the back wasn’t easy either. I didn’t look. Well, not on purpose, but only caught a glimpse.

  The rain had been fierce so the entire outside of the sleeping bag was wet. I made sure Adela was covered and snug inside the dry part and scooted her close to the fire. Man, there I was in my dream situation and Adela was too sick to do anything. She squirmed a little and coughed, still shivering. Hell, I was shivering and looked down at myself standing there in my own soaked clothes.

  I shrugged out of my wet shirt and jeans, lined up all of our clothes on the floor to dry by the fire and scooted close to her. I stayed outside of the sleeping bag though, which meant I was still freezing. I picked up the edge of the bag and slid down inside next to her. The minute my skin touched her warm body my breath caught in my throat and I had to think of something else, anything else.

  That was almost impossible, but I managed to stay calm. Well, most of me anyway.

  Within a few minutes, we both stopped shivering and I lay staring at the back of Adela’s head while she slept, trying to keep that one part of me under control and away from brushing against her.

  Chapter 29

  ~~ Adela ~~

  I awo
ke staring at a fireplace. The heat warmed my cheeks. Court had his arm draped over my shoulder and his hand held mine. I looked up at a ceiling, an actual ceiling. Were we safe? I closed my eyes and smiled. I must have moved a little because Court moved his arm slightly. His bare arm. Wait!

  I stuck my hand down into the sleeping bag and touched my bare skin. I was totally naked. I panicked a little until I remembered he said I had wet clothes or something. Court’s warm chest was against my back, skin to skin. I didn’t know if he was completely naked or not and I wasn’t going to try to find out, afraid to move for fear I might touch him in the wrong spot.

  “Court?” It came out in a squeak.

  “You’re awake.”

  “Yeah. Um … I’m naked.”

  “Ah … yeah. Your clothes were soaked and full of soot. I promise I didn’t look. I covered you with the sleeping bag before I took off your clothes.”

  I sighed. “Okay. Are you … naked?”

  “Um … yeah. Sorry. My clothes were wet too. We were both shivering, you had a fever, and I didn’t know what else to do. I saw this in a movie once. The guy was freezing after falling into a lake and the woman undressed him, got naked, and crawled under the blanket with him to warm him up. It worked in the movie. I guess it worked here too.